Gingerbread Man
''Gingerbread Man ''is a 1994 album by The Residents. The group's follow-up to their successful 1991 multimedia project Freak Show, Gingerbread Man ''is a concept album exploring the perspectives of nine different characters, a concept further elaborated upon with the album's groundbreaking additional CD-ROM multimedia content. History ''Gingerbread Man explores the personalities of nine characters and their "rather strange outlooks on life". Each character, according to The Residents, has the titular Gingerbread Man in them somewhere, represented musically by the recurring motif: "Run, run, as fast as you can; you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man". Each of the songs have the same general format: a 30-second introduction (which usually features the Gingerbread Man theme) followed by a verse sung by the character, and then a mix of comments and thoughts by the character over music which expands on the themes in the verse and gives the listener glimpses into the character's thoughts. The interactive CD-ROM program also uses the same format, letting the user play his or her keyboard like a visual instrument by triggering various images, sounds, texts, and effects through the keyboard and mouse. The Residents brought a number of collaborators together on Gingerbread Man. Ty Roberts (who had produced Ty's Freak Show) was producer on this project through his new CD-ROM company, ION. Voices for the characters were provided by not only The Residents, but also Laurie Amat ("The Weaver"), Diana Alden ("The Confused Transsexual"), Molly Harvey ("The Old Woman"), Isabelle Barbier, and Todd Rundgren ("The Sold-Out Artist", "The Ascetic", and "The Aging Musician"). Following the release of the Enhanced CD version of the album, EuroRalph issued a version of Gingerbread Man in 1994 which did not feature the additional CD-ROM multimedia material but which features identical musical contents. Track listing # The Weaver: The fool and the death-maker die alone (3:52) # The Dying Oilman: Blinded by the hostages of fortune (3:13) # The Confused Transsexual: Stamen and pistillate together again (3:12) # The Sold-Out Artist: Black are the legs inside the white sepulchre (3:47) # The Ascetic: Shadows doubt the strength of the sun (4:07) # The Old Soldier: Safety sells, but war always wins (3:31) # The Aging Musician: Narcissus knows no one naked (4:51) # The Butcher: The flesh of animals angers anew... and moos (3:04) # The Old Woman: Kissless are the isolated, rootless are their tongues (4:32) # Ginger's Lament (2:23) Bonus Tracks (2016 Special Edition) # The Gingerbread Man (Concentrate) (2000) (9:15) # The Gingerbread Man Instrumental (1994) (20:48) Credits © + (P): '''Ion & The Cryptic Corporation '''Written, Directed & Composed By: The Residents Design & Art Direction by: Pore No Graffix Character head sculptures by: 'Leigh Barbier '"Gingerbread Man" design & animation by: Jim Ludtke Title pages by: Rex Ray Interactive Design by: Bill Schulze Character Voices by: Laurie Amat, Diana Aledn, Todd Rundgren, Molly Harvey, Isabelle Barbier & The Residents Additional graphic design by: Steven Klomen, Leslie Elledge, Hilary Davis & Rich Shupe ION Engineering by: Bill Schulze, Roger Jones, Ty Roberts, Pat Knoff & David Latham Production assisted by: Maureen Garrett Special Thanks To: '''Ann E. Greenberg '''Business Affairs By: Arlene Zeichner Documentation By: 'Jennifer Omholt '''Cover Art By: 'Jim Ludtke '''Package Design By: Rex Ray Music Published By: 'Pale Pachyderm Publishing '''Music Mastered By: 'Master & Servant, Hamburg, Germany '''Music Produced By: The Cryptic Corporation CD-ROM Produced By: ION & The Cryptic Corporation Release History See also * Freak Show * Bad Day On The Midway * I Murdered Mommy! * GBM(i) Category:Albums Category:Gingerbread Man Category:Interactive media